Medicine (RMH) - Research Publications
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ItemRe-thinking the brain. new insights into early experience and brain development(Elsevier, 2013-08-18)The brain is a self-organizing system that adapts to its specific environment throughout pre- and postnatal life (Braun and Bock, 2011). Self-organization refers to the spontaneous formation of patterns and pattern change in open nonequilibrium systems. Edelman’s theory of neuronal group selection (Edelman, 1989) highlights this process. Groups of neurons are ‘selected’ or organized into groups or networks that are dynamically organized through epigenetic factors and experience. Developmental selection occurs largely before birth. Processes such as cell division, differentiation and programmed cell death and the mechanisms of neuronal migration are regulated by epigenetic factors. While genetics provides a general blueprint for neural development, the developmental processes are not precisely prespecified by genes, and produce unique patterns of neurons and neuronal groups in every brain. The result is a diverse pattern of connectivity forming primary repertoires of different neuronal groups. Structural diversity occurs through selective mechanical and chemical events regulated by cell and substrate adhesion molecules. A second process called experiential selection occurs postnatally through behavioural experience, resulting in modifications in the strength of synaptic connections, and creating diverse secondary repertoires. Finally, re-entrant signalling leads to the development of dynamic ‘maps’, an interconnected series of neuronal groups that independently receive inputs from the real world and create coherent perceptual constructs.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableManagement of Prosthetic Infection According to Organism(InTech, 2013)